So, what I want to know is if Smart Phones mean the end of the weekend as a recovery time away from work or thinking about work? I get work related e-mails every day, but this weekend and many others I get actionable e-mails over the weekend. Are people really working 24/7, all the time. Is there any training program that requires that abandonment of family duties, their health, their faith or their general need to just detox from work?
We all need help, don't we?
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
It must be that I am Missing Something: Flags MIA On Memorial Day
It must be that I am Missing Something: Flags MIA On Memorial Day: "So, like I told ya I live in the bosum of suburban US of A. Yesterday, I am cruising around the lawn on my ride on tractor and I realise th..."
Flags MIA On Memorial Day
So, like I told ya I live in the bosum of suburban US of A. Yesterday, I am cruising around the lawn on my ride on tractor and I realise that ours is the only house that has the US Flag hanging on it for as far down the block in three directions (we live on a corner) as I can see.
I'm not the biggest patriot on the planet by any means, but this struck me as incredibly sad. You see, this neighborhood is the American Dream that billions all over the WORLD would want to have.
- Quiet tree lined streets. Gorgeous well maintained houses with beautiful lawns and gardens.
- Low crime rates.
- Close to the interstates for commuting but far from the noise and dirt and crowding of lesser suburbs of the city. Lots of strong employers in the immediate community and nearby cities.
- Great schools, great parks, nice people as neighbors.
And so many more nice things. Wisteria Lane, eat your heart out.
This is what so many 10's (100s?) of thousands of American Men and Women fought for in battles near and far. The American Dream. And we can't even put out a flag to solute their gifts to us that let us have that dream.
Even today, our military are in harms way and come home in "containers" to Dover Air Base lifeless and cold. No matter what your opinion is about those wars, any of them back to the Revolution in the 1700's, people who stand up and answer their country's call and pay the ultimate sacrifice should always be rememembered. And not just with a really good back yard barbeque. We owe that to them and to their families who every day lose sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, uncles and aunts.
Flags - not a big deal or lots of work. If you appreciate your freedoms, your home, your neighbors and especially those who protect our country, then fly one please on Memorial Day and any other Federal Holiday.
I'm not the biggest patriot on the planet by any means, but this struck me as incredibly sad. You see, this neighborhood is the American Dream that billions all over the WORLD would want to have.
- Quiet tree lined streets. Gorgeous well maintained houses with beautiful lawns and gardens.
- Low crime rates.
- Close to the interstates for commuting but far from the noise and dirt and crowding of lesser suburbs of the city. Lots of strong employers in the immediate community and nearby cities.
- Great schools, great parks, nice people as neighbors.
And so many more nice things. Wisteria Lane, eat your heart out.
This is what so many 10's (100s?) of thousands of American Men and Women fought for in battles near and far. The American Dream. And we can't even put out a flag to solute their gifts to us that let us have that dream.
Even today, our military are in harms way and come home in "containers" to Dover Air Base lifeless and cold. No matter what your opinion is about those wars, any of them back to the Revolution in the 1700's, people who stand up and answer their country's call and pay the ultimate sacrifice should always be rememembered. And not just with a really good back yard barbeque. We owe that to them and to their families who every day lose sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, uncles and aunts.
Flags - not a big deal or lots of work. If you appreciate your freedoms, your home, your neighbors and especially those who protect our country, then fly one please on Memorial Day and any other Federal Holiday.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Death of an (Evil) Salesman
Okay - so this week Osama (Usama??) Bin Laden was killed in his hiding place by a group of very brave and effective US Navy Seals. The news follow up has been a mess. Debates about showing his body, his bullet wounds, his burial at sea (should it have been in the nearest piece of sand off shore from the carrier?). Does our president get "credit for it". Depends on your politics apparently. In my opinion, none of that at all the key thing.
Bin Laden directly murdered no where near the number of people whom he directly caused to be murdered. He sold his vision of a bronze age Islamic republic/world to many many others. He sold them on how and why to do it in the "name of God". Some of those folks sacrificed their life for his cause and led to the killing and injuring of thousands of others. He wasn't the trigger man most of the time, but he sure was the evil driver, the persuader, the sales man for terrible terrible things.
Worlds away in the bosum of suburbia, I don't have any reason to believe that a retaliation will hit my home or family. But now and for the forseeable future people will want to "avenge" their "martyr". Something has to make this stop. But how?
People of faith in God should know that whatever that being is, there is no way that killing innocents should ever be done in his/her/its name. And if you are an atheist, agnostic or even pagan, the bottom line is the same. We share this world and have to learn to take care of each other - and that pre-cludes killing, stealing or terrorizing some one whos religious beliefs differ from us. Its just wrong.
So, no matter who is the salesperson - Pol Pot, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao, Bin Laden or Qaddafi (sp??), the Inquisitor of the Holy Roman Empire, Kings, Emperors, etc - don't EVER ever buy what they are selling. The world must learn this lesson or it will come to an early end.
Peace.
Bin Laden directly murdered no where near the number of people whom he directly caused to be murdered. He sold his vision of a bronze age Islamic republic/world to many many others. He sold them on how and why to do it in the "name of God". Some of those folks sacrificed their life for his cause and led to the killing and injuring of thousands of others. He wasn't the trigger man most of the time, but he sure was the evil driver, the persuader, the sales man for terrible terrible things.
Worlds away in the bosum of suburbia, I don't have any reason to believe that a retaliation will hit my home or family. But now and for the forseeable future people will want to "avenge" their "martyr". Something has to make this stop. But how?
People of faith in God should know that whatever that being is, there is no way that killing innocents should ever be done in his/her/its name. And if you are an atheist, agnostic or even pagan, the bottom line is the same. We share this world and have to learn to take care of each other - and that pre-cludes killing, stealing or terrorizing some one whos religious beliefs differ from us. Its just wrong.
So, no matter who is the salesperson - Pol Pot, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao, Bin Laden or Qaddafi (sp??), the Inquisitor of the Holy Roman Empire, Kings, Emperors, etc - don't EVER ever buy what they are selling. The world must learn this lesson or it will come to an early end.
Peace.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Its not our Father's Work World or Car Anymore
If your Dad was like mine and millions of other in the US they moved where ever their jobs took them and worked the hours and days they were asked. Never or rarely a question or refusal. THen somewhere in the mid-70s, mergers, exporting of jobs, recessions, fuel crisis and something else intangible changed things.
I visited my old corporation yesterday. It was weird sitting in the lobby as a visitor waiting for an escort. No - it didn't make me sad or happy. It was just weird. Except - I was in a suit. Looking every bit like a vendor. I have sat on the client side of the table so much, I don't know that I am sure how to act - protect my own interests or the potential client. My values will always favor doing the right thing for the client and my brain tells me that in the long run and maybe even the short run, that approach will be best for my business and my hear.
I realized that people will go and do what is best for their own career, their family, their faith and a bunch of other priorities before blindly doing what ever it is that the company would want. If I had been my father, I might have moved my family. Instead, I moved my work situation.
Weird indeed.
I visited my old corporation yesterday. It was weird sitting in the lobby as a visitor waiting for an escort. No - it didn't make me sad or happy. It was just weird. Except - I was in a suit. Looking every bit like a vendor. I have sat on the client side of the table so much, I don't know that I am sure how to act - protect my own interests or the potential client. My values will always favor doing the right thing for the client and my brain tells me that in the long run and maybe even the short run, that approach will be best for my business and my hear.
I realized that people will go and do what is best for their own career, their family, their faith and a bunch of other priorities before blindly doing what ever it is that the company would want. If I had been my father, I might have moved my family. Instead, I moved my work situation.
Weird indeed.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Cycle of Life - Middle Age Style
So - this week we learned a dear long time friend is going on hospice with uncurable liver cancer. He's a great guy, from the same town as my Grandfather in Scotland and a great musician. A really truly great human. And we are going to lose him and soon. Not so long ago it seemed like every one was getting married, having a baby or two or three and we were going to confirmations, bar mitzvah's and other like youthful events. I have this sinking feeling that there are memorial services and funerals in my future.
When do we get to go back into the babies part of this?
The key message for me in this is that life is a circle but we can make the shape change - some. Colonoscopies can save lives and we all need to get past the obvious yucky parts of them and get them done - if there's a family history or if you are 50 or over. So - let's move it folks. Please, lets all agree to make ovals.
G
When do we get to go back into the babies part of this?
The key message for me in this is that life is a circle but we can make the shape change - some. Colonoscopies can save lives and we all need to get past the obvious yucky parts of them and get them done - if there's a family history or if you are 50 or over. So - let's move it folks. Please, lets all agree to make ovals.
G
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Japan, Libya, Africa and Philadelphia
I watch the news and wonder how all this terror and danger came to be. Did we great the earthquake and Tsunami? No, but we build Nuke plants on fault lines, create enormous energy demands that force us to damage the earth with oil coal and now nukes.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Starting Out
So, I sit here in the bosom of suburban America in 2011 and wonder how to make the world a better place and keep the promises I made to my wife, my kids, my employer and myself - and have all that benefit our planet in some manner; benefit others in some manner. I wonder how this will go.
More as I go forward. But that is my premise. My job is to share my journey and, maybe, make the world a better place. And - truth be told, sometimes just vent my spleen.
Peace,
George
More as I go forward. But that is my premise. My job is to share my journey and, maybe, make the world a better place. And - truth be told, sometimes just vent my spleen.
Peace,
George
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